In the prior art, pneumatic tires have been widely employed. Such tires include a pair of beads that are mounted on a rim. Each one of pair of sidewalls extends from a respective bead to a ground-engaging tread. The rim, sidewalls and tread define an interior that is inflated with air.
It has been desirable to provide such pneumatic tires with an electronic device that enables information about the tire to be transmitted to an external device for tracking and identification of the tire during its lifetime. One such electronic device is a radio frequency identification (RFID) device, sometimes referred to as an RFID tag.
Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One part is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, which includes information that identifies the tire. The second part is an antenna for receiving and transmitting a signal to an external reader. The antenna is electronically connected to the integrated circuit and typically is carried on a substrate with the integrated circuit.
In the prior art, RFID tags have been attached to the sidewall of a pneumatic tire. The sidewall of the pneumatic tire provides a convenient location that enables strong transmission of the signal from the RFID tag to a reader.
In order to address issues associated with prior art pneumatic tires such as maintenance of air pressure, non-pneumatic tires have been developed. Non-pneumatic tires are designed to operate without air pressure. However, many non-pneumatic tires do not have a sidewall or a significant sidewall area. In addition, other structural aspects of certain non-pneumatic tires may create issues with mounting or placement of an RFID tag.
For example, many types of non-pneumatic tires include a polymer webbing that extends between a rim, which is typically formed of steel or other metal, and a tread. The polymer webbing and the tread areas are flexible, and such flexibility does not provide a stable mounting platform for an RFID tag. In addition, mounting of an RFID tag on the rim tends to be problematic, as the steel rim may create a Faraday Cage phenomenon in which the metal of the rim interferes with electromagnetic fields and thus the transmission of a signal from an RFID tag.
As a result, there is a need in the art for a non-pneumatic tire that includes optimum mounting of an RFID tag to provide stability for the tag and strong transmission of a signal from the tag.